


Best of three

by imperfekti



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-26
Updated: 2014-08-26
Packaged: 2018-02-14 22:05:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2204715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imperfekti/pseuds/imperfekti
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five friends sharing drinks together sometime during their university years. Winning still matters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Best of three

Empty cans of beer and one bottle of wine had already been placed away from the low table to make way for new ones. It was Chitose and Tachibana who contributed most to the amount of abandoned containers, and everyone else quietly thinks its fitting somehow, as they were the youngest among them to start drinking in the first place. 

When Shiraishi says “maybe just one more”, Tezuka places his can aside and switches to water. He has practice tomorrow, after all. The others have lectures, but they don’t worry about it in the same way. Shiraishi at least is definitely going to attend his, but he will also smile thinking about this night even if his head will hurt a little during the morning class.

As always, Fuji is the only one who never even touched the beer. There’s a glass of wine constantly in his hand, but his sips are so small and few it takes hours for him to finish that one serving while he listens attentively when the others fall back into reminiscing about the old times.

Chitose fuels the conversation with his what ifs tonight. What if he played the S3 in Kantou semi-finals instead of Shiraishi (Tachibana laughs and says Seigaku would have managed a 3-0 victory, earning a smile from Fuji and a scowl from Chitose). What if Tezuka had reached for a different door in the Muga (no one can imagine it). What if Tachibana had been scouted to St. Rudolph (everyone smiles, even Tezuka, but Fuji stays silent for a while afterwards).

For all five who have gathered together, it’s mostly easy thinking about those times. Despite all the time they spent on chasing an abstract thing such as victory, it was still pretty simple living, really. Some mistakes were made but one way or the other they were paid back as wisdom gained. And at least they made some friends.

Winning still matters for them, though. It’s Shiraishi, in the end, who asks with a smile just slightly tilted about who Fuji and Chitose think, among the three present, was the best captain of their tennis clubs. Shiraishi and Tezuka share a glance, both expecting a tie. Chitose and Fuji do the same, and the three wait.

A few breaths later Fuji smiles and Chitose laughs, saying that it must have been Kippei. When Fuji agrees, Shiraishi starts asking for their arguments and Tachibana grins, telling him to take it like a man. Tezuka stays quiet and hopes he’s not wrong in believing telepathy doesn’t actually exist.


End file.
